"Changing the recipe?" The fat man's previously cheerful expression immediately froze! "I know these recipes are treasured by all the senior brothers and uncles as if they were lifelines. So I won't hesitate or make any demands—only that, during the Foundation Stage, the recipe can slightly enhance my cultivation speed. That's it. I won't pick and choose at all!" Since his conversation with Han Li and the old man, he had been diligently gathering various recipes, intending to use them himself. After all, he possessed a secret method to accelerate the maturation of medicinal herbs—how could he not make full use of this advantage? However, the better recipes were all held by the Dan-Stage cultivators, and even the Foundation-Stage disciples, though they had a few recipes, could only produce unremarkable pills. Thus, his original plan had been to target his master, Li Hua Yuan. But now, upon meeting this Lightning Senior Brother, Han Li immediately changed his intended recipient. Because no matter how one looked at it, Master Lei was far easier to deal with than his own master. This wasn't just something Han Li thought—Li Hua Yuan truly seemed rather stingy toward his designated disciple. And even more so, because of their master-apprentice relationship, he was especially difficult to handle. It was very likely that if the same approach were applied to Li Hua Yuan, Han Li would merely casually praise him for his "excellent filial piety" and thus legitimately claim the two spirit herbs. In return, Han Li would have to feign deep gratitude, bowing and thanking his master with heartfelt sincerity. Now that he had finally encountered another Jin Dan stage cultivator, he naturally wanted to seize this rare opportunity! "I'd like to exchange for a formula—this truly is a rather troublesome matter," Lei Wanhe said, as though struck by an idea. Yet his expression softened only slightly, and now he furrowed his brows, his demeanor uncertain. Seeing this, Han Li didn't feel disappointed at all—on the contrary, he felt a surge of confidence: "This is definitely going to work!" Otherwise, Master Lei wouldn't have looked like this. "As long as it's beneficial to my disciple, any recipe will do—my junior will certainly not make my senior overly burdened!" Han Li quickly lowered his own standards one more level. "Han junior, I must say that my senior does indeed have some excellent recipes here. However, these are all unique family-secret formulas passed down through generations—truly, we cannot exchange them!" Le Wanhe shook his head again, expressing his regret. Han Li, deeply disappointed, could not hide his feelings. The fat man had clearly noticed every detail, yet he chuckled and said, "Although I cannot exchange the family's recipes with you, I do still have several ancient formulas of my own! Some I discovered myself in ancient ruins, others I obtained through exchanges with friends. I'm certain these can be exchanged with you without any issue." "Truly! Then I am deeply grateful to my senior!" Han Li was overjoyed and quickly expressed his thanks. "Wait a moment—let me finish what I have to say. Then I'll thank you." The plump man waved his hand, said it with a matter-of-fact air. "Since we're making an exchange, I'd like to clarify a few matters first." He spoke seriously, which made Han Li slightly surprised. "Please, Master, go on. I'll listen attentively and follow your teachings!" Han Li immediately bowed respectfully. "Now, about 'teachings'—what I'm really trying to do is lay out the difficulties upfront, so you won't regret later!" Lei Wanhe glanced at Han Li, speaking calmly. "The pills produced according to these ancient formulas are indeed genuine top-tier spiritual elixirs. But the key issue is that the raw materials for these formulas are now extremely hard to find. I'm not sure whether you can gather all of them. Of course, these materials are difficult to obtain, but they still exist somewhere in the world. Unlike some other ancient formulas, where the raw materials have long since vanished and gone extinct for decades." In fact, most of the newly developed formulas currently available are simply variations of ancient ones, with ingredients constantly being substituted and retested. As a result, while the raw materials for alchemy have been refreshed, their efficacy has also declined significantly. This truly is a source of frustration within the cultivation community! Hearing this, Han Li was left stunned. Yet he clearly understood the point the fat elder was making. "What do you mean?" asked Han Li. "It's quite simple—once you obtain the formula, if you find it difficult to gather the original alchemical ingredients, try to find suitable substitutes. There's a good chance that some of these substitutions might even succeed!" the fat elder said seriously to Han Li. Han Li found himself speechless. Yet in his heart, he realized that the elder probably felt uneasy about the difficulty of sourcing the ingredients for the formula he was offering, and thus wanted to gently alert him in advance. In this light, this elder from the Thunder Sect truly has a good heart! Han Li thought to himself. Yet on the surface, he remained polite and attentive, constantly expressing his agreement, clearly demonstrating his firm commitment to the exchange of the prescriptions! Seeing this, Lei Wanhe felt pleased, yet still felt he had gained too much advantage over his junior disciple, and thus felt somewhat uneasy. After a moment's thought, he added, "How about this: you have two rare herbs here—then let's trade one herb for each new prescription! I don't want you to feel too disadvantaged!" Han Li was slightly taken aback at first, but then burst into joyful excitement, his admiration for Lei Wanhe soaring significantly. He thanked Lei Wanhe warmly and sincerely, speaking with genuine sincerity, without any pretense. "Alright," Lei Wanhe said, "here is the list of prescriptions. Choose two! Each entry includes the properties of the pill and the required ingredients. Once you've made your selections, I'll copy the actual prescription for you!" Saying this, the stout man produced a jade scroll and handed it to Han Li. Han Li, deeply moved by receiving the scroll, also found himself somewhat puzzled. When did this master finish preparing this catalog? But this question flashed through his mind only briefly before he became annoyed. Han Li took the jade scroll and carefully searched for suitable prescriptions. "Just this Lingqi Pill and the Qigong Powder!"兴奋ly exclaimed Han Li once he had withdrawn his mind from the scroll. "Lingqi Pill, Qigong Powder?" The plump man nodded slightly, said nothing, and immediately reached into his storage bag, pulling out two more jade scrolls and tossing them over. "Well, it's getting late now. I should be heading back!" After neatly gathering the medicinal herbs on the table, the plump man promptly prepared to leave. With his raw materials now complete, he was eager to return and begin refining his Jinyuan Pills. Han Li quickly rose to see him off. However, just as they reached the entrance of the cave dwelling, Han Li suddenly remembered something and asked the man about his current master, Li Hua Yuan, and the location of his dwelling. When the plump man heard that Han Li was actually a recorded disciple of Li Huayuan, he was quite astonished. Still, after informing Han Li of the location, he raised his silver glow and swiftly vanished. After watching Lei Wanhe completely disappear from the sky, Han Li smiled with satisfaction, withdrew the jade scroll containing the prescription, and played with it for a while. Only after a long time did he turn and intend to return to his dwelling. However, just as Han Li took a few steps forward, something near the entrance caught his attention. Upon looking closely, he saw Lin Sheng's body curled up there, still maintaining the posture in which it had been thrown by the plump man. Han Li paused momentarily, then immediately walked over to the body and began to kneel down and search. He remembered clearly that Master Lei had not touched or moved anything on the body. Either he felt embarrassed in front of this junior disciple, or he simply didn't regard the belongings of a Foundation Stage disciple as valuable. Indeed, Han Li found a storage bag inside the body. This made Han Li smile brightly! After all, he had always been quite interested in these puppets, and he surely expected a large number of them inside the storage bag! Yet, upon carefully inspecting this very bag, the smile gradually faded from his face. For to his surprise, there were not a single puppet inside—only a few spiritual stones, two ordinary pills, and one unremarkable jade scroll. Han Li's enthusiasm was instantly extinguished! "Indeed, he had controlled so many puppets that day, yet now not a single one remains. Hasn't he destroyed them all?" Han Li murmured to himself, looking quite disappointed. Han Li had actually been quite close to correct. That day, Lin's senior had initially been able to hold his own against the opponent due to having a large number of controllable puppets. However, after the four identical siblings from Qianzhu Sect killed the two fleeing cultivators and came to lend their support, the situation changed. Lin, seeing the situation growing dire, immediately activated all the puppets and, while the enemy was momentarily disorganized, broke through the encirclement. Thus, there were no mechanical puppets left inside his storage scroll! Han Li, disappointed, casually retrieved the jade scroll and, as usual, sent his consciousness into it, glancing at it casually. Yet, upon the moment his awareness entered the scroll, three golden characters appeared—“Da Yan Ju”—and his eyes widened in astonishment, his previously relaxed expression instantly stiffening. (Here comes the first chapter of today. Wang Yu is continuing to try and deliver three chapters for everyone! However, sleeping only five hours a day is truly difficult. But to clear out the last few monthly subscriptions, we’ll have to endure it. We strongly urge everyone to give us more monthly subscriptions!)